#2 Mississippi State Bulldogs at #22 Kentucky Wildcats Preview

The Mississippi State Bulldogs travel to Lexington Kentucky to face a tough Wildcats squad. The Wildcats have won the last 10 times against Mississippi State including an 83-60 win in the Humphrey Coliseum last season. It is going to take a great effort by the Bulldogs to win on Kentucky’s Senior Night.

Broadcast Info and Venue:

• Location: Lexington, KY
• Venue: Memorial Coliseum
• Time: 6:00 PM CT
• TV: SEC Network +(Online or WatchESPN App Only)
• Radio: Starkville 100.9 FM, Tupelo 95.9 FM, Hailstateplus/Tunein

Info

Mississippi State

• Record (27-1, 13-1 SEC)
• Road Record: 12-1
• RPI: 3
• SEC Standings: 1st

Kentucky

• Record (19-8, 10-4 SEC)
• Home Record: 14-3
• RPI: 14
• SEC Standings: 3rd

Projected Starting Lineups

Mississippi State

• Victoria Vivians
• Morgan William
• Breanna Richardson
• Chinwe Okorie
• Dominique Dillingham

Kentucky

• Makayla Epps
• Evelyn Akhator
• Taylor Murray
• Maci Morris
• Alyssa Rice

Notes

• Victoria Vivians had 39 points the last time Mississippi State played in Lexington, however Makayla Epps matched that with a 41 point night of her own that ultimately gave the Wildcats the 92-90 Double Overtime Victory.
• Kentucky only leads the series 26-17 despite winning 10 straight in a row. They lead 11-8 in Lexington with the last win for the Bulldogs coming in 2009.
• Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell is a Mississippi State Alum
• Makayla Epps has scored in double digits in every conference game but 2. Kentucky went 1-1 in those games.
• Mississippi State is the only 1 loss team in the country. Only Connecticut has a better record.
• Not really a game not per se, but how in the world does an SEC Game with SEC Title Implications between 2 of the top 3 teams in the SEC not at least make the SEC Network?
• Kentucky and Mississippi State have a rivalry brewing in all sports. Football plays a competitive series every year, baseball has many connections from John Cohen, to Gary Henderson, to Nick Mingione, and Women’s Basketball has Mitchell who is an MSU alum coaching Kentucky. If Ben Howland has a great season next season, then this could turn out to be a big rivalry for MSU in all sports.

Prediction

Obviously this is a tough game for Mississippi State. I think Texas A&M was a tougher matchup, but you never know what Makayla Epps might do. A win would be huge for Mississippi State. It would change the landscape of the SEC as we know it in Women’s Basketball. With all of that being said, I’m not picking against the #2 team. They have been rolling in this 7 game win streak. Mississippi State 71 Kentucky 64.